Executive Compass appoints new director

North East bid writing specialist, Executive Compass, has promoted Amy Forshaw to the role of director at the age of just 26.

Amy, from Jesmond, has worked with the Newcastle-based company since completing a business degree at Northumbria University in 2012, and is now director of sales and marketing.

She will be working to diversify the business over the next year with the introduction of new business services, including online bid-writing seminars and accredited training programs. Around 70 per cent of Executive Compass’ work comes from repeat business, and Amy will be responsible for maintaining this existing client base and identifying and attracting new business.

In addition, she has taken on some financial, operational and strategic management responsibilities from Managing Director, Neil Capstick, to allow him to study for a Doctorate in Business Administration.

Neil said: “I am delighted that Amy has accepted the new role. She has been a driving force in helping the company achieve higher sales, increase profitability and provide exemplary customer service, demonstrated by the company’s extraordinarily high repeat customer base”.

“I’m looking forward to seeing Amy’s new ideas put into action as part of our expansion plans for the business.”

Executive Compass provides specialist bid writing, bid management and training services to companies across the UK from its offices at Newcastle’s Hoults Yard. The ten-strong team handles all contracts in-house to ensure quality and consistency, with a support writer working on each project alongside the main bid writer, in case of illness or unforeseen events within the team.
The business model, which does not use freelancers or contractors, has seen the company achieve a 20% increase in turnover, with over 400 pre-qualification questionnaires and tenders completed in 2016. Of almost 250 tenders submitted, some 87 per cent produced by Executive Compass were successful last year, with a commercial value of £3 billion.
Executive Compass specialises in civil, mechanical and electrical engineering, health and social care and construction bids, but is diversifying and has seen growth in the nuclear, logistics, facilities management, training and lift maintenance sectors.

Training will be one of Amy’s priorities in her new role.
She said: “I will be working on a new online training model, including introducing webinars on how to write successful bids. Last year, we delivered 28 training sessions to our clients, helping them to gain an understanding of what is required to win a major bid.
“We’ll also be ensuring all our staff are trained to ISO standards as part of our continued focus on quality, and I aim to improve on the 17 internal training courses undertaken by my team last year.

“My ambition is to see the company expand to the right level without quality being compromised. We have a good team here, and I’m looking forward to further growth in 2017 for our clients and ourselves too.”